After getting kicked out of Miami’s Bayfront Park, where it had held court since 2001, Ultra Music Festival has been granted permission by Miami City Commissioners to relocate to Virginia Key Beach.

Despite protests from local residents and politicians including Key Biscayne Mayor Michael Davey, the commission voted 4-1 to allow Ultra to be held March 29-31, 2019 outside Marine Stadium and in Virginia Key Beach Park.

Previously, Rapture Electronic Music Festival had advertised its two-day 2019 edition over the same weekend on the same site. In response, Rapture organizers organized a No to Ultra petition the day before the hearing, to no avail.

While Commissioner Joe Carollo had argued vehemently for a flat $2 million payment, in the end Ultra promoters will pay the city of Miami $1.4 million to rent the key for the weekend. UMF also agreed to spend millions more on environmental safeguards and public safety. Continue Reading →

Magazine London, a 3,000-capacity, two-room nightclub and event space, will launch in the summer of 2019. News of the opening comes the 600-capacity 24-hour electronic-music venue FOLD made its debut in east London in August.

Located at the Greenwich Peninsula overlooking the River Thames, the space will be used for a variety of purposes — parties, exhibitions, gigs, conferences and a range of other events. Additionally, the owners are hoping to construct an outdoor festival space able to accommodate 7,000 revelers.

Magazine London will be easily accessible with excellent transport links from the West End, London Bridge and Canary Wharf.

Obligatory press release gush from Simon Tracey, CEO of the venue’s owner, Vibration Group: “London is still very much at the forefront of live events globally and Magazine, with its incredible flexibility both indoor and out, is groundbreaking.”

Obligatory press release gush from Knight Dragon CEP Richard Margree, the international property and investment company backing the venture: “Magazine London fits superbly with what we’re doing on Greenwich Peninsula — creating a new London underpinned by creativity, a community with culture and entertainment at its heart.”

Bristol trip-hop legends Massive Attack are taking their show on the road. Today the outfit announced a handful of dates for their upcoming Mezzanine XX1 tour featuring Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins with visuals by Robert Del Naja. The multi-city jaunt (dates can be found here) is in honor of the 21st anniversary of the group’s seminal album, Mezzanine, which Fraser appears on.

Robert Del Naja says of the tour: “It’s going to be a one off piece of work; our own personalized nostalgia nightmare head trip.”

In addition to the tour, the band have issued a remastered version of their aforementioned seminal 1998 third album. The special edition features eight previously unheard Mad Professor remixes from the original 1998 sessions on three slabs of colored vinyl. This specially designed heat-sensitive box includes a book featuring exclusive images by Nick Knight and Del Naja. The package will also be available on 2CD deluxe and digital.

Jennifer Washington and Kristian Hill, an ambitious team of Motor city filmmakers, has established a Kickstarter campaign to raise $30,000 to finish production on God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines: The Story of Detroit Techno, a documentary that tells the story of Detroit techno stars Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May, Eddie Fowlkes, Blake Baxter, and Santonio Echols.

The film’s narrative is focused around how these artists pioneered DJ culture and a musical style in the ’80s that blossomed into a global business that “betrayed them.” The producers wrote the following about their campaign:

We’ve been documenting the lives of the founding fathers of Techno music in the States and abroad for over the past 7 years. They are Detroit’s best kept secret as they have been quietly exporting their products and services to audiences all over the world for the past 30 years. The stars of this film are considered gods overseas, but fail to get the same recognition here at home. They’re the “hidden figures” of the $7.1 billion dollar industry of Electronic Dance Music, which is now led by the list of Forbes’ cash kings like: Calvin Harris, David Guetta, and deadmau5 to name a few. Most people nowadays have no idea that Techno has Detroit origins or that black people have anything to do with this music.

It has been our personal mission to set the record straight by producing a documentary feature film to bring this important but overlooked part of black history to mainstream audiences. Until now, this has been an independent venture. But, now we need everyone’s help.

Contributions will help Washington and Hill finish the film and complete music clearance. Donations can be made here.